At Aprilia, we made quite a few changes in the organization and we recruited a pilot Iannone of which we are already saying all the benefits of his arrival on the RS-GP. Before these Sepang tests, there were the preliminaries on the same track led in particular by a Aleix Espargaró who finished this warm-up in the lead. But the start with the tenors was less exciting…
Un Andrea Iannone who is recovering from treatment with antibiotics for a dental infection and a Aleix Espargaro outside the top 10, such was the outcome of Aprilia's first real test run. Not enough to jump to the ceiling, and besides the comments were not the type to stir up crowds. “ I'm a little low on energy from the antibiotics, but I'm pretty happy with the work I did this first day » said Joe the Maniac. “ I know we have to improve and I am totally focused on giving the right instructions to the technicians. I have to say that the guys at Aprilia did a good job. Despite the short time spent, they improved the bike compared to the end of year tests ».
An evaluation that the Spaniard enriched as follows: “ happy is a word you can't use when you're not in the top 10. But the 2019 bike is definitely better than last year's. The feeling is very similar to the Aprilia 2017. This is good, because I really liked this version. But that's not enough yet “, underlined the 29-year-old pilot.
He ends on speedweek : " the motorcycle is lighter, more manageable and behaves well when braking. But it is clear that there is still a lot to do, especially coming out of the corner on the corner ". During the shakedown test in Sepang (February 1 to 3), the best lap time of 2'00,500 min was his prerogative. His best performance on Wednesday was 2'00,602. Aleix lost 0,981 seconds on the best time of this first day which went to the world champion Marc Márquez (Repsol-Honda).
MotoGP IRTA testing at Sepang, February 6:
1. Marc Márquez, Honda, 1:59,621 min
2. Alex Rins, Suzuki, 1:59,880
3. Maverick Vinales, Yamaha, 1:59,937
4. Tito Rabat, Ducati, 1:59,983
5. Danilo Petrucci, Ducati, 2:00051
6. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 2:00054
7. Takaaki Nakagami, Honda, 2:00158
8. Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati, 2:00197
9. Stefan Bradl, Honda, 2:00214
10. Pol Espargaro, KTM, 2:00313
11. Jack Miller, Ducati, 2:00383
12 Franco Morbidelli, Yamaha, 2:00460
13 Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, 2:00602
14. Cal Crutchlow, Honda, 2:00681
15 Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati, 2:00
16. Miguel Oliveira, KTM, 2:00 902
17. Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Yamaha, 2:00
18. Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha, 2:00,985
19. Mika Kallio, KTM, 2:01.0554
20. Johann Zarco, KTM, 2:01.121
21. Andrea Iannone, Aprilia, 2:01.249
22. Sylvain Guintoli, Suzuki, 2:01.286
23. Joan Mir, Suzuki, 2:01.432
24. Karel Abraham, Ducati, 2:01.627
25. Jonas Folger, Yamaha, 2:01.736
26. Hafizh Syahrin, KTM, 2:01.853
